The municipal group Compromís has criticized the low participation in this year's call for entries for the image of the Gran Fira de València. Only 12 design studios have submitted proposals, a figure significantly lower than the 65 candidacies registered in 2023.
An opposition councilor attributes this decline to changes introduced by the municipal government of PP and Vox in the competition rules. These changes removed professional entities such as ADCV, APIV, or ComunitAD from the selection process, excluding them from the jury responsible for evaluating proposals.
“"The municipal government has broken the trust of the sector and has ended up emptying a process that worked of credibility."
Compromís had already denounced at the time that the municipal government was "turning its back on the Valencian design sector" and replacing professional criteria with profiles chosen directly by the council. The current situation has been described as an "evident failure" by the party.
This same week, with the call for entries already closed, a new change to the rules has been made. Initially, the jury would have been composed of "a professional member of the Local Design Council of the city of València" and "two professional authors of the Gran Fira de València (Feria de Julio) poster from previous editions". Now, the first person from the Local Council will be replaced by a third winner from previous editions.
The City Council's justification is that it seeks to "give greater prominence to the talent and creativity of companies and professionals in the illustration, design, and advertising sector". However, Compromís's intuition is that this move is made "due to the difficulty of finding available professionals".
“"When a call for entries that was a benchmark receives such a minimal response, the problem is not with the sector, it is with those who have changed the rules, disrespected professionals, and generated distrust."
